Reinebold, South Bend Clay Colonials celebrate 1,000 wins

By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

South Bend (Ind.) Clay High School got to celebrate its baseball past and present when the Colonials reached a milestone May 14 at Jim Reinebold Field.
The Colonials swept a doubleheader from visiting Bowman Leadership Academy. The first-game win marked the 1,000th since Clay joined South Bend Community School Corporation in 1964.
Jim Reinebold led the program to its first 503 victories from 1964-88. He helped found the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association and was a member of its initial Hall of Fame induction class in 1979. He established the Jim Reinebold Fall Baseball Camp in 1993 and it the developmental camp is still an autumn tradition.
“He was the GOAT,” says Joel Reinebold, one of Jim’s sons and the head coach at Clay since the 2014 season.
There have been many family connections at Clay over the decades. That continues with Denny Grounds, who played for Jim Reinebold in 1964, and his grandson, Colin Monsma, who is on Joel Reinebold’s 2022 team.
“We’re very, very young and very, very inexperienced,” says Reinebold, who at times has had four freshmen and two first-time high school players in his starting lineup. “But they know about the tradition of program and what is expected of them. They got a big kick of getting 1,000 wins on their watch.
“We stress pride in the program, taking care of what we have and appreciating what you have.”
All this during a time when there is talk of school closures in South Bend, including Clay.
“We don’t know anything,” says Reinebold of the rumors. “We just take it day by day.
“It would be a crime to shut it down. It’s a great school.”
When Jim Reinebold started at Clay, the team played on a diamond located on the site of the current field.
Joel Reinebold remembers watching “No. 4” and his teams from the monkey bars.
The Colonials then played at Bendix (Kennedy) Park and then at Clay Park before landing at what is now Jim Reinebold Field (so named following J.R.’s death in 2017) while Chip O’Neil, who is also an IHSBCA Hall of Famer, was head coach.
Since coming back to Clay, Joel estimates that the program and its supporters have raised more than $50,000 for upgrades to the facility.
How many hours has Joel spent working on it?
“I wouldn’t even begin to guess,” says Reinebold. “I wish I had a dollar for every hour.”
Clay will host a Class 3A sectional (with Mishawaka Marian, New Prairie, South Bend Saint Joseph and South Bend Washington) May 25, 26 and 30 and a 1A regional (with regional winners from the South Central of Union Mills, Caston, Fremont and Westville sectionals) June 4.
“I want a semistate (in the future),” says Reinebold. “It’s more work for us, but I’m glad we host the sectional and regional and can show off the field a little bit.”
Reinebold, who was the original groundskeeper at Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium in South Bend (now called Four Winds Field), cares for a field which sports athletic bluegrass with a Washington Ball Mix for the infield.
“I like the coloring and texture,” says Reinebold. “It drains very well.”
Reinebold is always partial to Pro’s Choice infield conditioner.
“It helps the playability of the field and its prevents it from getting too hard or too soft,” says Reinebold. “It’s the same stuff I used at the stadium.”
After graduating from Clay and playing at Mississippi College, Reinebold was an assistant to his father then Dan Kasper at Clay.
He then helped Brian Buckley at Hillsdale (Mich.) College, served as an assistant at Penn High School (the Kingsmen won their first state championship in 1994) followed by a head coaching stint at South Bend Adams (1995-2000), another assistant stretch at Penn (2001-2012) and finally leading the program at Clay.
His current coaching staff includes pitching coach Kasper and former Adams player Nate Meadimber.
The Colonials have won 12 sectional titles, including in the first two years of the IHSAA state tournament (1967 and 1968).
Since 1967, only South Bend Riley boys swimming (29) has earned more sectional champions among SBCSC schools.
Clay reigned as state baseball champions in 1970. Jay Parker and Bob Schell were captains on that team and are part of a group of Colonials who were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft out of high school or college.
Besides Parker (Chicago White Sox 1970) and Schell (Chicago Cubs 1970), there’s Roger Benko (Chicago White Sox 1967), Gary King (Cleveland Indians 1970), Kent Juday (Cleveland Indians 1972), Andy Replogle (St. Louis Cardinals 1975), Bret Mitchell (Kansas City Royals 1977), Tim Hudnall (Montreal Expos 2002), Mike Wolff (Baltimore Orioels 1994) and Aaron Bond (San Francisco Giants 2017). Replogle pitched in the majors.
Joel Reinebold helps youth players in Indiana and Jamaica through his efforts with Rounding Third, a a non-profit organization he helped start with former South Bend White Sox/Silver Hawks front office man John Baxter and others.

South Bend (Ind.) Clay High School celebrates the 1,000th win since Clay joined South Bend Community Schools in 1964. The milestone came May 14, 2022. (South Bend Clay Photo)

Reinebold spreads baseball knowledge in Indiana, Jamaica

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Sharing baseball with those who may not otherwise get a chance to play it.

That’s what South Bend’s Joel Reinebold has been doing in Indiana and the islands.

On behalf of Rounding Third, a non-profit organization he helped start with former South Bend White Sox/Silver Hawks front office man John Baxter and others, the son of late Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jim Reinebold has helped young players at The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in South Bend and with building and improving fields at area Little Leagues.

Reinebold recently returned from his seventh trip to Jamaica.

On most of those Jamaican visits, Reinebold has helped distribute equipment and baseball knowledge to youngsters.

“The kids are always very interested in learning,” says Reinebold, who is also head baseball coach at South Bend Clay High School. “(Jamaica) is the hub of the Caribbean. They have baseball all around them (in Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela), but they are lagging behind. (Jamaica) has athletes that can definitely play the game.”

The level of athleticism is higher than many kids from northern Indiana and southern Michigan Reinebold observes as a high school coach and director of the Jim Reinebold Fall Baseball Camp.

Reinebold said a lack of bats, balls, gloves etc., plus few natives with coaching knowledge and a scarce amount of land for baseball fields makes it tough for the game to get a toehold in a country where they love their sports.

“It gives the kids another sports option,” says Reinebold. “Pockets of baseball are so spread out. It’s not like here where every community has a Little League and travel teams.

“We’d love to build a baseball field, but land is so valuable down there.”

Young Jamaicans who do pick up the game usually stop by the time they go to high school because their are no school teams.

During his visit, Reinebold got to share baseball and smiles with players aged 7 to 13. He got to see how they observed Jamaica Day in their own-air school and how school was dismissed early so they could hustle on grounds usually reserved for cricket or soccer. All equipment was donated (it’s not like there’s a sporting goods store in every town or village). There were no $500 bats or $200 spikes.

Kids proudly rocked caps sent from Mississippi College (where Joel Reinebold played) by Dr. Jeannie Lane.

“It’s a different world from what kids around here are used to,” says Reinebold. “I wish I could take (Clay or camp) kids down there and say, ‘appreciate what you have. Look what these kids have to play with.’”

In his last two trips to Jamaica, Reinebold got to work with former U.S. minor leaguer Rainford Harris, who has his “boots on the ground” as a resident living in Negril and teaching the game to young natives. There’s also Damon Thomas is Buss Bay, near Ocho Rios.

He’s also worked with former minor leaguer Donovan Duncan and former Midwest Leaguer Andrew Dixon, who also live in the U.S., and occasionally come to the island to spread the message of baseball. Reinebold met Dixon at Treasure Beach a couple years ago.

A goal for Reinebold is a clinic sponsored by Rounding Third and the Jim Reinebold Fall Baseball Camp.

“I’d love to tie it into education,” says Reinebold. “The potential for those kids is amazing.”

Major League Baseball umpire C.B. Bucknor was born in Jamaica and lives in New York and also teaches the game to children in the land of his birth.

Youngsters play baseball in Jamaica. (Joel Reinebold Photo)

Jamaicans are eager to learn about baseball. (Joel Reinebold Photo)

The joy and hustle is evident in these Jamaican ballplayers. (Joel Reinebold Photo)

Joel Reinebold enjoys the beach on his seventh visit to Jamaica. (Photo Courtesy of Joel Reinebold)

Places to play baseball in Jamaica are few and far between. (Joel Reinebold Photo)